Lamb is vice president of social impact strategy at Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios at Paramount. She is also a co-founder of Power the Polls and serves on the organization’s steering committee.
When you picture a poll worker, a corporate media executive probably isn’t who comes to mind. But in my case you’d be mistaken.
The story of how I came to be a poll worker — one of those people who hands you your ballot, gives you an ‘I voted’ sticker and makes sure your voting process is smooth and easy — is not typical. But it’s one that is part of the origin story of Power the Polls, an initiative that since 2020 has recruited more than 900,000 poll workers to serve at polling places all across our country. And my story shows that, whatever your primary occupation or however you spend your time, you too can add “poll worker” to the list of ways you work to preserve democracy this election season.
I have the great fortune of working for MTV, a brand that has been synonymous with encouraging young people to vote for more than 40 years. In 2020 I was planning MTV’s youth voter campaigns when our primary elections coincided with the start of a global pandemic.
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My colleagues and I watched what happened when poll workers — traditionally older folk — were, very understandably, not showing up. Fewer poll workers meant fewer polling stations, which meant longer lines and more disenfranchisement for people who could not afford to wait or travel further to vote. This had a disproportionate impact on working class people, people of color, people who may not have had child care or people facing myriad other factors that impact voting access.
That’s why I — along with incredible partners from other civically minded companies and organizations — came together to found Power the Polls, the first national campaign to recruit a new generation of poll workers.
In every way we could, we sounded the alarm about the problem — and asked people to be part of the solution: Sign up to be poll workers to make sure democracy works. In my case, that meant leveraging the airwaves and social media accounts of popular programs like “The Daily Show” to ask people to answer the call of democracy. And I answered the call too.
There is something special about waking up at the crack of dawn (early but worth it!) to come together with neighbors and community members you don’t already know who share a mission to set up and run a polling location — in my case, in the very familiar locale of my own kids’ elementary school — and literally standing up the democratic system to make sure our neighbors voices are heard in determining important decisions about our communities. And to know that Americans across the country are simultaneously doing the same at their local schools, firehouses or libraries. To be a part of something bigger than ourselves, something we are all invested in.
Being a poll worker was an experience that heartened my faith in our democracy and how it depends on us — individual citizens like you and me — to make it work. I received excellent training from my local election administrators and was a bit nervous about the responsibility but that was put to ease when my first Election Day as a poll worker arrived.
This year, we once again have a major task ahead of us. Experts estimate that we’ll need about a million total poll workers to ensure smooth elections in 2024, and election administrators all over the country are telling us they still need many more poll workers to meet their communities’ needs. That includes younger Americans and people who speak multiple languages. We want all eligible voters to feel welcomed and comfortable at their polling places, and that means making sure that our poll workers fully represent and look like the people they’re serving.
For anyone looking to support their community and strengthen our democracy, becoming a poll worker is one of the most important and high-impact things you can do. Now is the perfect time to join the hundreds of thousands of other Americans who will come together to make our democracy work this year: with Poll Worker Recruitment Day on Aug. 1. Sign up today to become a poll worker through Power the Polls and help ensure this year’s elections are safe, free and accessible for all voters.
And if you’re in New York, I may be the one to show you the ropes.
